I am home today, but I have woken up to this before.

You Can't Copyright a Title, But You Shouldn't Steal One Anyway

Many of my gentle readers will recall that I ran a humor/satire website entitled Imaginary Sanitation from 1997-2001 (corresponding to ages 16 through 20). Today I find that the Livejournal user Sytaxia, apparently someone who once made me a vat of vanilla pudding in college, has written an "original novel" entitled Letters to the Department of Imaginary Sanitation.

From Sytaxia's profile:

Update: "Letters to the Department of Imaginary Sanitation," an original novel, has been sent to literary agents... No news is likely to come for at least two more months, five more months being likely...

I sure hope I didn't write any other parts of said manuscript.

Wally's on Tuesdays

Wally's on Tuesdays is the place to be for serious music. They don't carry name-brand stuff; instead, the heavy r&b-funk-jazz that is played seems to come from far deeper in the well that commercially sanctioned music is skimmed from. If you are a musician or aspire to be one, the effortless actions taken by the players, who change week-to-week, can often damage your ego (in a way that can only be repaired through practice, practice, practice). At Wally's, talent and legend well up in the brownstone walls nightly...and there's never a cover.

Wally's at Closing Time on Flickr (rb).
Wally's official site (redesigned).

Last or Second to Last Red Line

Three out of four consecutive nights.

Percolation

As I sit and work and watch the bizarre townie-world happening of Teele Square, I listen to music all day. Whether it's WFUV, streaming audio from local bands, or stuff from my own huge collection of American music, some type of blues/jazz/instrumental '40s R&B/soul/souljazz/funk/rock/folk/etc is always on. It is my hope that this will teach my brain to write songs as opposed to parts of songs.

325 (Grain Elevator, Lawrence, Kan.)

Muttonchop Land

When every male at the Midway Cafe has the same facial hair, the existence of the facial hair is not ironic (unless you're into group irony, which really just seems like conformity to me). One wonders if the male facial hair conformists sit at the bar on quieter evenings and compare chops over PBRs....or do they drink High Life now?

P.S. Thumbs down to the Midway for sending tonight's headliner on after the T closed.
P.P.S. Thumbs down to the MBTA for closing at 12:20 on weekends, when DC (with fewer residents) stays open until 3 and New York (many more people) never closes.

A Cowboy, His Horse, And His Faith

Peru (I think), Kan. From the KC Siege.

Wyoming, 2004

College Point's Random, 6-story Korean Spa

Featured in the Times.

Something newsworthy happened at King Arthur's Motel & Lounge.

This "motel and lounge" near the New England Produce Center, scene of a fatal shooting last night, was always one of my favorite places to bike past. The parking lot seems to always be full of mob guys in Lincolns, and the parking lot of the Dunkin next door always contains most of the on-duty Chelsea PD cruisers.

Read this awful Globe article about the shootout. My favorite part comes at the end--a description of a 1982 brawl in which marauding, off-duty, townie cops beat 13 people (one to death) with clubs and tire irons!

Working the Downtown Austin Oil Spill II

Read about it here.

Working the Downtown Austin Oil Spill I

Read about it here.

Expired Film Update

Two rolls go in tomorrow: random fall/winter and Baltimore.

I am going to write you a post called NIGHT OF THE LIVING TOWNIES

when I am not completely burned out.

Fun Fact

Number of business days in this month so far: 16.
Number of days spent entirely on the road for business: 14*.

*Includes two work-filled weekends!

baltimore

no time

Stamford

A conversation between rb and rb on one of the worst places in the world.

from Bellinger, Robert
to Rob Bellinger
date Jan 15, 2008 11:13 AM
subject exurban boom town

from Rob Bellinger
to "Bellinger, Robert"
date Jan 18, 2008 1:52 PM
subject Re: exurban boom town

work line between road and rail
new ubs
acela
suits in january

from Bellinger, Robert
to Rob Bellinger
date Jan 18, 2008 2:04 PM
subject RE: exurban boom town

garages everywhere

from Rob Bellinger
to "Bellinger, Robert"
date Jan 18, 2008 2:08 PM
subject Re: exurban boom town

the ground floor of every office building, present and future

from Bellinger, Robert
to Rob Bellinger
date Jan 18, 2008 2:19 PM
subject RE: exurban boom town

dozens of freezing central americans huddling together on an exit ramp between i-95 and the northeast corridor tracks,
provding tax-evading employers with easy on-off access to illegal labor

from Rob Bellinger
to "Bellinger, Robert"
date Jan 18, 2008 2:21 PM
subject Re: exurban boom town

no housing, just offices

every car three times the size it needs to be

from Bellinger, Robert
to Rob Bellinger
date Jan 18, 2008 2:32 PM
subject RE: exurban boom town

only the infrastructure remains at night

patience

is something i ran out of three years ago

For the record,

I hate working by myself in my apartment all day.

Frequent Flyer Miles Summary

USAirways 41,012
Delta 17,127
Continental 10,973
American 9,739
United 5,499
JetBlue 30/100 points (free one-way remaining)

Does not include flights on Frontier or AirTran, the worst airline ever.

To all airlines still requiring many-digit numbers to log into your system, as opposed to email addresses: get with it!

There Will Be Blood

Opens at the Somerville Theatre *next* Friday. Who wants to go?

First Major 777 Incident

It's been sparsely covered in the U.S., but a BA 777 from Beijing was destroyed in a crash landing at Heathrow yesterday. No fatalities.

More of the Same

It happened again, this time at Underbones. While attempting to order a first round, I found myself standing next to a sloshed crew of nondescript 20something men. I asked if they were waiting for the barkeep. The one nearest me said something unintelligible. I asked him to repeat himself. He then said something unintelligible to the barkeep, a young, Asian lady. She looked at me with order-hungry eyes. I said do you have Julius Echter bottles, good, one of those, a Cascazilla Red, and an order of corn fritters. She turned to the unintelligbile dude and said, are you sure you want to get him all that?

I asked what was going on, and he said KARMA. I asked what I could do for him, and he said NOTHING.

I put my wallet away, but left a 20-dollar bill on the bar. The bartender poured my drinks and took the bill to the register. The bearded dude stood next to me and said nothing. I pointed out, only somewhat innocently, that the bartender had taken my money. I jokingly offered to pay for half or all of my round.

The bartender came back with my change. The dude handed me a 20 from his wallet and pocketed my change.

How much should we leave her, he asked. We have to leave a big tip. Give her the 5, I said. He counted 5 singles from the change, dropped them on the counter, and walked away.

Back at the table, Ian could not believe the story. When the same bartender appeared to retrieve our empty glasses, I asked her what was up with the guy giving away free beer.

Who's giving away free beer?!, she asked.

That dude who bought my corn fritters!

You mean you don't know him?!

Never fucking seen him before.

Train Full of Men

Nothing beats sitting in the cafe on the Acela, snug at the center of the 8-car phallus, cruising at half of cruising speed through deathly suburban Connecticut, two beers in and staring at a dozen ugly fat men wearing almost the same blue shirt.

Manhattan

The nightly garbage truck parade begins.

It's an Acela day.

This starts up again real soon.

Oct 1, 2007, BOS-RDU.

Balls Dropping

The scene is the legendary Broken Spoke in Austin (featured prominently in this Dale Watson video). I'm in my new Stetson hat, trying to learn how to two-step, when someone in another dancing pair accidentally punches my Shiner out of my hand. The bottle explodes on the concrete floor. A fat man seated nearby gives me a dirty look. I remember that I've left another Shiner waiting at my table and head back to reclaim it.

But I've already drank from a fishbowl full of rum and had several margaritas and several more beers. I take a left turn too early, and walk up to what I think is my table. I point at a bottle and announce, "That's my beer."

Up look four absolutely grizzled cow-women in plaid and flannel. The most wrinkled says, "Are you old enough to even be drinking that? Have your balls dropped yet?"

Somehow not missing a beat, I say, "The left one's down, but the right could use a little work."

"Let's have a look," says the worn-faced cow-woman, gesturing at my crotch.

As I begin to undo my belt in the middle of the seating area, I notice that the other three folks sitting at the table are now staring at me in horror. I start working open the button on my jeans anyway.

"I bet we could get that right ball down by midnight," my interrogator remarks. It is at that point that I decide to pick up one of the beers on the table and walk away. A few seconds pass before I realize that I just stole someone's beer and that my belt is wide open.

Crazy Girls

One of my female friends often says that "bitches are crazy." And they are. There are father issues (not enough fathers), father issues (too many fathers), personal space issues, limitless attention-craving, multiple personalities, the need for endless vigilance against the threat of withheld sex, cheating, poorly managed finances, etc etc.

The path of least resistance is the path of no resistance. Singledom ho!

$100 at Cheapo Records

• Earth, Wind & Fire, The Eternal Dance (3 CD set)
• John Lee Hooker, The Ultimate Collection: 1948-1990 (Rhino 2-CD set)
  
• Ernest Tubb, The Complete Live 1965 Show (2 CD set)
• North Mississippi Allstars, Shake Hands With Shorty (repurchase)
  

BY THE WAY

That bulleted list is funny-sad, not miserable. Just so you know.

Feel free to add any missing adjectives!

Additional Adjecives for Broken Heart

• destroyed
• atrophied
• hopeless
• bitter
• wasted
• realistic
• icy
• screwed
• disappointed
• ruined
• broken
• nonfunctional
• misled
• useless
• faithless
• lonely
• serious
• brooding
• miserable
• unable
• isolated
• islandlike
• despondent
• fucked
• unrecognized
• alone
• forgotten
  
• distrustful
• pensive
• questioning

enough.

saturday night

that's that.

it's over.

dear work people:

please send me the photos of me you took last night.

S.O.S.

if you are in austin,

come to the broken spoke tonight.

post times grow later

catharsis and/or denouement may or may not approach. usually they don't.

dear dan barry,

if you still read this, could you please create a song called "lack of a positive female role model"?

Fuzzy Dice

DC, November 07.

more analytical, less judgmental

Wish List, 1.08.08, 1:23a CST

• more fiction writing practice
• additional muscle mass
• peace
• pedal steel
• ability to play pedal steel
• functional girlfriend

now featured

in the opening remarks of the wwn january 08 sales conference.

now in austin.

hope to resume writing with more words, as opposed to light, here.

very tired.

only six more days left in this work week.

SCARY AND DEPRESSING WINTER BOSTON!

Fantasized about June 8th.

It came this morning....7° on the way to Logan, with the massive, opaque plumes of steam moving glacially slowly through the blank, promiseless sky. Awesome power.

Building up in Queens and Brooklyn.

For years, I've been talking about the renaissance that awaits Downtown Flushing. Right now, cranes dominate the skyline. CitiField has risen in Shea's parking lot. On the south side of Roosevelt Ave, a massive development has been steadily rising. SkyViewParc is the recently-given name of the project, which will meld retail, lots of parking, and really expensive condos. I have to wonder what will appear on the north side of Roosevelt at the Flushing River, where a large warehouse was recently demolished.

Closer to Main Street Station, Downtown Flushing is also gaining more of an "acceptable" appeal as the city's second Chinatown, with a recent proliferation of Vietnamese, Malaysian, and pan-Asian eateries. Here's a neighborhood that was a largely white ethnic shopping district in the 80s, an insular Korean and Chinese community through the 90s, and now boasts many new buildings, gleaming, new restaurants and banks, and many, many more signs in English! When I was a high school student, I did what everyone else did on Main Street: got off the bus and got on the subway. Now, I look forward to eating my way through the neighborhood on subsequent return trips to New York.

No word on the progress of Flushing Commons.

Meanwhile, over in Billyburg, the Domino Sugar refinery just received landmark status. Next door, the massive EDGE project is almost complete. Loft conversions and new loft buildings are going up everywhere. Between the shoreline and the BQE, incongruous condo towers stick out like sore, suffocating thumbs above the wooden rowhouses. Hipsters, who looked comical in 2004, and now look positively fucking ridiculous, dominate Bedford Ave.

Further down on the Southside, the formerly bleak corner I lived on (where Serpico gets shot in the face) now features a retail bank and the neighborhood's second Brooklyn Industries store. And the most extreme irony of all: the illegally zoned Hasidic cellphone store I lived behind is now a cigar bar.

Progress is fast; progress is expensive. In New York, it may be faster and more expensive than anywhere else in North America.

Vancouver (take two)

HNY!!!

{livery cabs bad}